Dark Side.
Chapter 8: Isobel. Part II.
As Cass suspected, and by suspected she means knew, Isobel wants the device, just like John, which means they are taking a very old plan out of the very dusty shelf. She doesn't complain, pretends to be just as shocked as everyone else, just as concerned. In reality, she's jumping in almost joy. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are taking out the tomb vampires for real, and she and her new friends will continue to live life to the fullest.
Except Damon and Stefan are not cooperating, and Elena is too heartbroken over Isobel's coldness to behave as mediator. Not to mention the fact that Damon's snide comment has earned her nothing but suspicion from everyone but Bonnie and Caroline, the only ones in the dark about what's really happening. She's this close to throwing a little tantrum and pulling one of her old moves. She could so easily steal the device from Damon and give it to Isobel, wait until she and John killed all the vampires and then kill them, leaving all knots nicely tied. Except stealing the device would mean losing Damon and Stefan forever.
So, when a frantic Elena runs towards her with scared tears shining in her eyes, claiming that Isobel has kidnapped Jeremy and they all have to come up with a plan to get him back, it takes a lot for Cass to not smile. Damon will be handing the device now whether he wants to or not.
"Where's the device?" Bonnie asks, worry tainting her voice.
They are all in Alaric's empty classroom, trying to come up with a way to save Jeremy's life. The blinds are halfway down, showering the room in half shadows and soft platinum sunlight.
"Damon has it." Stefan explains to Bonnie. "He's going to be difficult to reason with."
Cassandra scoffs, leaning back on her seat.
"We'll go to him!" Elena insists, almost desperate. Pausing on her pacing across the length of the blackboard, she turns in place, looking at Cassandra with glimmering brown eyes. "Cass will talk to him." she adds, begging.
Cassandra blinks, not having seen this turn of events. Why would she be the one to ask Damon for the device? What even makes Elena think Damon would willingly hand the device to her? They've been arguing since the day she came back.
"What?" Cass frowns. "There's no way Damon's giving me anything, Lena. He doesn't trust me." Elena's face falls, probably when she realizes that Cassandra is completely right. "You should talk to him."
Elena nods, agreeing. She begins pacing the length of the blackboard again, nearly running into Alaric's wooden swivelling chair twice, arms crossed. Stefan shakes his head, face turned to stone.
"He won't hand it over if it's dangerous to vampires." Stefan reminds everyone.
"What if it isn't?" Elena asks suddenly.
"No." Cassandra denies before Bonnie can get any ideas.
There's a tense moment of silence. Elena halts on her step, turning to look at her with a judging grimace. They don't get it. This plan has to happen! It's imperative! It'll probably end up saving Elena's life, even.
"What?" Bonnie asks, shocked.
"Listen, Isobel is working with Katherine, right?" Cassandra shrugs. "Which means we"—she points at the four of them.—"are all safe." She looks at them, waiting for them to understand. Stefan is frowning at her, and Elena is angry. Bonnie seems to be the only one beginning to get it. "The tomb vampires need to go, they just do. This is the way to get this done."
"Why?" Stefan demands.
She shrugs. She could easily tell them how she hates them, how befriending them and caring for them was the biggest mistake of her life, how they are unreliable and unpredictable and have a big ass mouth. The lot of them. And Cassandra hates them. Of course, she could also sit them all down and tell them the gospel truth. But, if Tweedledee and Tweedledum, sadly with their help, manage to get those pesky vampires out of the picture, there's no need for them to know about Klaus. And Elena's sad fate.
"I'll unspell the device." Bonnie cuts in, confident in her skills. Why wouldn't she be? Cass is an amazing teacher and Bonnie has improved incredibly. Cassandra sends her a small glare. "Elena, you talk to Damon, get him to give you the device, and I'll turn it useless."
Elena lets out a relieved sigh, sending her best friend a grateful smile. She and Bonnie rush out of the room, anxious to get the plan in motion. Cassandra doesn't move, neither does Stefan. They look at each other, and she's incredibly aware of Stefan sizing her up.
"Stop looking at me like that, I won't stop you guys." Cassandra lets him know, a bitter smile covering her features. "So you can stop trying to figure out whether you can best me or not. Spoiler alert, you can't."
She sends him a look then, one that suggest he's stupid for even considering he's strong enough to take her on. Stefan lets out a breathy chuckle at that, like he's genuinely amused by her words. He pushes himself off Alaric's desk, walking closer to her.
"You wanna tell me what's really going on, Cass?" Stefan asks kindly.
"Maybe when you're older." She teases him, rising to her feet as well. "Would you keep me posted?" she requests, walking over to the door.
"You're not coming with us?" Stefan asks, following.
"Well, I doubt my presence will help Damon give the device up." She explains truthfully. "Just text me if you need any help."
Stefan sends her another kind smile, one that's too kind for her liking. She doesn't say anything, however, pretends to not notice it. The two part ways and she goes straight home, waiting to hear from any of them. It's three hours before she does. The sun is long gone by the time she meets up with Damon, Stefan and Elena in the town square.
The Mystic Falls town square is more or less the same as it was a hundred years ago. At least, the clock tower is. A squared piece of land decorated with lovingly-taken-care-of grass, a large fountain, and wooden benches positioned near the gravel paths in-between the patches of grass. Right now, at ten o'clock at night, there are only a couple of streetlights on, one on each corner of the square. Not a soul in sight, the four of them are surrounded by nothing but the crickets chirping, the water from the fountain in the centre trickling down into the lower tier, and the occasional owl's hoot.
Cassandra would find it peaceful, nature's music surrounding them with the soft golden light of the streetlights mixing with moonlight until it seems they're in a rose-gold paradise, if it weren't because her companions are a mess of anxious energy.
The three vampires stand where they cannot be seen, but have no difficulty watching the very nervous Elena as she stands in the middle of the square, waiting anxiously for her biological mother to appear. Cassandra feels Stefan tense up next to her when Isobel appears, right behind Elena, looking lethal.
"Where is the device?" Isobel asks as a way of greeting.
Elena jumps up and swirls in place. Cass can see the fear clear in her face. It only lasts a second before the human girl regains her composure. She straightens up, juts her chin out, challenging.
"Where's Jeremy?" Elena demands.
"This isn't a negotiation." Isobel drawls on. Her voice doesn't have a single ounce of emotion. "Where is the device?"
Elena is brave enough to take one small step forward.
"Where is my brother?" she asks slowly.
Cassandra fights the urge to raise her eyebrows. Elena sounds a lot like Katherine in this moment. Isobel doesn't let Elena's stubbornness affect her. She takes a step forward as well, her patience running thin.
"Do you really think I came alone?" Isobel tilts her head to the side, eyes narrowed. She looks almost feline.
Almost as if on cue, a man and a woman walk from the shadows until they're standing right behind Elena. Stefan threatens to take a step forward, and Damon's entire body tenses like he's getting ready for a fight. Cassandra rolls her eyes. God, she just accidentally stepped into a low-budget action movie.
"Did you really think I came alone?" Elena repeats Isobel's words, unfazed.
Stefan immediately takes a step forward, Damon close on his heels. Cassandra follows them, mostly because she knows that this is the way to begin earning their trust again. Isobel turns around to look at them. Her eyes go to Stefan, to Damon, until they fall on Cass. The older vampire shoots the younger one a warning look, asking her to stop with the bullshit. Isobel sighs, rationally realizing she's heavily outnumbered.
"For God's sake! Call home." Isobel turns back to Elena, fed up.
"What?" Elena sputters out, confused.
"Call home." Isobel repeats slowly, as if she's talking to a child. "And ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."
Elena hastily reaches into her jeans' pocket, pulling out her phone and dialling her home phone number without thinking about it. Her entire body relaxes when none other than Jeremy Gilbert answers the phone, claiming to be completely fine.
"I'll be home soon, alright?" Elena assures her little brother before hanging up.
She turns back to Isobel, a small relieved smile covering her features. Cassandra fights the urge to flinch, knowing what's coming.
"You were never gonna hurt him." Elena nods, her small smile still in place.
Cass sighs. Clearly, Elena's still holding onto hope that her biological mother isn't a heartless monster. Oh, how wrong she is.
"No, I was going to kill him." Isobel deadpans with a faux pout. Elena gasps. "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any." Isobel adds monotonously.
Elena shakes her head slightly, probably in denial. Or maybe outraged over Isobel's careless nature, Cass can't really tell.
"But you took a risk with Damon," she says. "How did you know that he was gonna give it to me?"
"Because he's in love with you." Isobel explains like it's obvious.
The reaction is immediate. Elena gasps, having expected everything but that. Beside Cass, Damon awkwardly looks at his little brother before looking away with a clear of his throat. Stefan frowns, upset. Cassandra presses her lips into a thin line, disbelieving. Seriously, how is it that she's in the same fucking place as a century and a half ago? What are the goddammed odds? She ignores the pain inside of her chest with the same ease she ignores Stefan glancing at her.
There's a long pause of awkward silence, in which the only one unaffected is an impassive Isobel. She continues to stare at her daughter without blinking. Elena is the first one to finish processing the piece of information they've all been thrown.
"Thank you," she says harshly, taking a step forward.
Elena thrusts the device into Isobel's hands before taking her hands away, not waiting to see if the vampire has actually grabbed the device. She has. Elena's eyes remain cold as she looks at this hollow shell of a woman.
"For what?" Isobel asks, uninterestedly looking down at the invention in her hands.
"For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact." Elena declares with hate-fueled passion.
Isobel takes a closer step toward her only daughter. Cassandra fights the urge to sigh. She understands it's a very emotional moment, but Isobel supposedly has her humanity turned off, which means this interaction should have ended a long time ago. Cass could be back home, taking a bubble bath and reading her favorite book for the umpteenth time by now.
"Goodbye, Elena." Isobel's left hand lifts up and brushes a strand of Elena's rich chocolate hair. Then, almost as an afterthought, Isobel continues speaking. "As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine."
With that creepy, foreboding declaration, Isobel flashes away with vampire speed. Instantly, Elena takes off, falling into Stefan's arms and clinging to him with despair. They break apart after a moment, turning to face the other two vampires. Eventually, however, they all turn to look at Damon. Cass can practically feel everyone else thinking about what Isobel said. Surely, Damon can, too, which is why, she thinks, he sends them all a nod before walking away, tense. A part of her wants to go after him, make sure he's okay, but the other part of her, the selfish one, resents him still. So, when Damon's clear blue eyes meet hers for a split second, she does nothing.
Stefan kills the ignition as the car pulls up right in front of her house. Cass looks at the pretty house, at its wrap-around porch, at the six tall windows in the front, and the five steps leading up to the front door. In a way, the house reminds her of Veritas Estate. The thought leaves an acrid taste in her mouth and she wonders how she didn't see the resemblance when she rented it. One thing is for sure, the house is way too big for just one person. Sighing, her hand hovers over the door handle. Stefan is intently looking at her, she can feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. With one last sigh, she turns back on her seat to face him. They study one another for a moment, before she breaks the silence.
"I wasn't going to let John kill your brother." She promises. "Or you, for that matter."
"I know." Stefan admits, nodding.
She finishes the sentence in her mind, adds in the words Stefan doesn't dare say but still thinks: I know, but it makes no difference. She not only lost Damon, she lost Stefan, too. That knowledge hurts more than she thought it would. Stefan doesn't trust her, and probably never will.
"Listen, Cassandra," Stefan starts. "You were gone a long time. You can't expect things to be like they were. Not this soon."
"I know." She repeats his words. "You have every right not to trust me. But I—I mean well."
Her cheeks are burning, and her heart is on her throat. Still, she tries to remain as calm and collected as possible. This sucks because she does mean well. She wants Damon and Stefan to have a fulfilling life, without any hurt. It's the least they deserved after being abandoned just when they began their new life. So many things, from 'an eternity of misery' to Stefan's uncontrollable hunger, could have been handled better had Cass and Katherine not run. But that's just one more what-if she'll never have an answer to.
"Listen, about Damon…" Stefan trails off, voice tired.
"What about Damon?" Cassandra frowns.
She didn't expect him to bring his brother up, especially when less than two minutes ago he claimed he wasn't her friend. Looking at Stefan, however, Cass knows where he's leading the conversation to. And she doesn't like it one bit. Because if they're not friends, if he doesn't trust her, he has no right to ask about her personal feelings for his older brother, not after this long, not at all.
"I know you loved him," Stefan explains with a tilt to his head. "I think you still do."
"No." Cass denies dryly. "I don't."
"Cassandra—" Stefan sighs with a shake of his head.
He sounds tired, like he's heard all this before. Suddenly, she realizes this is an opportunity she can't give up, even if it means talking about something she hasn't talked to anyone else in a long time.
"I can't, Stefan." She adds, voice gentler than before. Stefan looks back at her, interest peaked. "I am exhausted. The past century has been heartbreaking, watching over him as much as I could from a distance was devastating." It feels strange, finally admitting all this out loud.
There's a pause, in which she's extremely aware of how vulnerable she is in this moment. If this doesn't work, she would have spilled her heart out to a man who used to be a close friend but is now a mere stranger.
"You're here now." Stefan speaks at last.
His tone suggests he knows his consoling is meaningless. Her being here won't change anything.
"Damon doesn't care about me, not anymore… and knowing that is liberating." Cass breathes out with a small smile that has nothing happy about it. "There are no more what-ifs, no more hope. I can't love him anymore, I won't."
"That won't be easy." Stefan reluctantly points out.
"It will," she says, certain of it.
Because she won't stay here long enough for it to be more painful than it has been before. She's gotten over Damon in the past, she can do it again. And this time, there won't be any relapses.
"You're leaving." Stefan realizes.
"Bonnie has improved a lot. She has my number, in case she needs any help, but soon she won't need me." Cass shrugs. "I have nothing here."
"You have friends." Stefan points out like it's the best reason to stay. And while it is, Cassandra doesn't think it's enough. Not if she's at war with the other two vampires in town. "And you have me."
Cassandra sends him a look, fighting the urge to snort.
"I think you're dangerous." Stefan agrees. His left shoulder rises slightly. "You're rational, secretive, and your every move is calculated. For example, I know the only reason you're confessing all this to me is to earn my trust." At that, he levels his eyes with hers. "Am I right?"
Cassandra smiles, saying nothing. He may have read through her, but he's still here, listening with rapt attention, which means that, even if Stefan himself doesn't know it quite yet, her impromptu plan worked.
"But I also know you're kind, and thoughtful, and resilient." Stefan's lips go up in a soft smile. Cass isn't sure where all this sudden kindness towards her is coming from. "I don't know why you do half the things you do, but I don't think your decisions come from cruelty."
Cass knows that's not completely true, after all, willingly offering the people she once claimed were family to her up for slaughter isn't exactly a benign decision.
"As for back then, I can't imagine leaving was easy for you." Stefan continues. She thinks this isn't something he has come up with in the moment. For some reason, the idea that Stefan has tried to make sense of who she is and why she left is very touching. "You must have had a pretty good reason."
"I did." Cass replies immediately. Stefan nods once. His leaf-green eyes are free of suspicion for the first time in days. They shine prettily. "You are amazing, by the way."
"Right." Stefan chuckles.
"You are!" she insists with a soft laugh of her own. "Two days ago, you were guilt-ridden and upset, forced to starve. And now you're back to normal. The regular vampire would probably be holed up somewhere having some sort of breakdown."
"Yeah, well, the 'regular vampire' probably hasn't had to deal with falling off the wagon as much as I have." Stefan clears his throat.
Cass shakes her head. That's exactly her point. No one would be able to fall down so many times and then get back up again and continue leading a semi-normal life. Most humans can't, they end up giving up. For a vampire, however, it's twice as hard. Every emotion is heightened, and while it sounds like a pretty good thing, what with love, pleasure, and happiness feeling like one has reached ecstasy, the negatives emotions are heightened too. And they are incredibly hard to deal with.
"Your ability to bounce back and keep going is incredible." Cassandra insists. Stefan opens his mouth to protests but she interrupts him before words leave his lips. "Take the compliment, Stef!"
"Okay!" Stefan surrenders, chuckling softly. "Thank you."
Cass smiles brightly and genuinely. Sure, this conversation might have started out of nothing but survival instinct forcing her to at least forge one positive relationship with the local vampires, but she's glad it happened. She hadn't realized how much she missed Stefan until now.
"No, thank you." Her smile doesn't fall away.
Cass wants him to stay, see if they can actually be friends again, until she notices it's late, and Stefan probably wants to get back to Elena, whose night has been nothing but hard. So, she turns back to the door and pushes it open.
"I'll see you later, Stefan," Cass says, climbing out of the car.
"See you later." Stefan nods.
Cassandra doesn't stop to watch Stefan's car speed away. She simply walks up to her porch, opening the door without having to unlock it. She pushes the door close with her heel as she walks into the large, shadowed house. During the day, the house's big, abundant windows make the place vibrant and almost dream-like with radiant natural light, but at night, it looks like the entrance to Hell, all shadows, secrets, and silvery dim moonlight. It's beautiful but paradoxically chilling at the same time. Just like me, Cass thinks bitterly. She has spent her days living like this, constantly travelling between the Light and the Dark, just like the moon.
She doesn't know if she likes it anymore, the paradox that she's become. Who is the real her? The ruthless, plotting killer who is willing to do whatever it takes to survive, or the kind, protective woman her friends think her, who is willing to do anything for those she loves? Cassandra knows if she decides to stay in Mystic Falls, or at least keep in contact with her Mystic Falls friends, she will be forced to answer the question once and for all. Except try as she may, her mind doesn't come up with an answer.
And that fact frightens her more than Klaus ever has.
UPDATED: 16/01/2020